Migrants arrive in Mexico City to stay at the stadium

MEXICO – Thousands of Central Americans, dreaming of going to the United States, have invaded the Mexican capital and found themselves in a stadium on the eve of the mid-term US elections, during which President Donald Trump made of the migrant caravan a central topic.

Authorities counted more than 2,000 migrants entering Jesus Martinez Stadium on Monday afternoon and a steady stream continued into the night. The facility has a capacity of 6,000 people, officials said, and four large tents erected to sleep were filled.

Hundreds of miles from the US border, first-timers scrutinized donated clothes, sponge bathed and ate chicken and rice. They then picked up thin mattresses to sleep at night. The blankets to protect themselves from the cold in a city at more than 2,300 meters above sea level, in great demand, were in great demand, which changed after three weeks of walking in the tropical heat.

Nashieli Ramirez, mediator of the local human rights commission, said the city was preparing to accommodate up to 5,000 people. It is estimated that the main caravan has about 4,000 participants and several smaller groups follow hundreds of kilometers to the south.

"We have the space needed in terms of humanitarian aid," Ramirez said.

A large number of migrants have sought treatment for painful feet, diseases and other diseases. "Since we arrived here, we have not stopped our visit," said Tania Escobar, a public health nurse from Mexico City at the treatment tent.

Melvin Figueroa, 32, from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, was with his pregnant wife and two children aged 6 and 8. He took the 6-year-old girl under the tent because her eyes were irritated and she "throws everything she eats."

More and more immigrants were walking along the road between the city of Puebla and the capital, trying to hitchhike with passing vehicles.

Trump seized the caravan and presented it as a major threat, even though such caravans have occurred regularly over the years and have largely gone unnoticed. He sent thousands of soldiers to the US-Mexico border while the migrants were still hundreds of miles to the south, threatened to detain asylum seekers in the tent cities and hinted without evidence that there were criminals or even terrorists in the group.

In dozens of interviews since the departure of Honduras' first caravan more than three weeks ago, migrants said they escaped poverty and violence. Many are families traveling with young children. Some say that they left because they had been threatened by gang members or had lost loved ones because of gang violence. Others say they hope to work, provide a good education for their children and send money to help their loved ones at home.

Alba Zoleida Gonzalez, 48, of Valle, Honduras, said she had walked for five hours Monday, before being able to go in semi-trailer with about 150 other migrants. The muscles in his calf hurt, but it was a small price to pay for the chance to live a better life than our home.

"I was not looking for work and nothing," said Gonzalez, adding that her husband had been stolen and had to hand over everything he had made by selling crabs so his attackers would not do worse. "And when we find a small job, we kill you for money," she said.

Arrived in Mexico City, migrants went to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, an important pilgrimage site, to thank the Virgin Mary for watching over them throughout the trip.

The caravan has been spreading in recent days and many participants have progressed faster. Many said that the caravan would now regroup in Mexico City. Oscar Ulloa, 20, a Honduran accountant who was able to travel to the capital by bus from Puebla thanks to the documents distributed by the Mexicans, said that he expected the group to vote in the next few days on his next initiatives.

The 178-mile (286-kilometer) road followed by Monday in Mexico City by the city of Cordoba in the Gulf State, Veracruz, was the longest one-day crossing attempted by the group.

There were obstacles on this last stretch. One truck after another banned migrants from wandering as they crawled along the road in the relatively cooler November temperatures in the highlands of central Mexico. Then the migrants converged on semi-trailers, forcing the big machines to stop to get on board. Such impromptu hitchhiking is precarious, with dozens of people climbing on vehicles at a time.

Mexico City is more than 600 km from the nearest US border crossing in McAllen, Texas. Last spring, a caravan opted for a much longer route to Tijuana, in the far northwest, across from San Diego. By the time she reached the border, the caravan had only 200 people left.

Many of the last group said they remained convinced that traveling together was their best hope of reaching the United States.

But Edgar Corzo, a head of the National Human Rights Commission, said that, based on the experience of former migrant caravans, the group will probably start to part now that He is in the capital.

"Everyone goes to the place where he considers the best", mainly where he is closest to where they already have relatives or friends in the United States, has he declared.

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Amy Guthrie, Associated Press writer, contributed to this report.

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